Dabo Swinney touts ‘credibility’ after Clemson’s latest loss

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, trying to salvage what’s left of this season after Saturday’s loss to SMU, said there was “no quitting” on his team and touted its “credibility” after 18 years at the school.

The Tigers, who began the season with a No. 4 ranking and national championship aspirations, fell to 3-4 with their 35-24 home loss to the Mustangs.

“We hope we’ve gained a lot of credibility here,” said Swinney, who won two national championships and nine ACC titles during his time at Clemson. “There have been many good years, many good years. But this one is difficult.

“We’re going to try to fight and finish this thing as best we can. And then we’ll start again like we do every year. You know, that’s what we do every year. We have a great year, we have a tough year, you know, we start again and then you go back to work.”

Clemson has only had one losing season since 1998, when the Tigers were 3-8 under Tommy West. That happened in 2010, when Swinney and the Tigers finished 6-7 after losing in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

The loss to SMU on Saturday was the Tigers’ fifth in a row against power conference teams — the first time that had happened at Clemson since the 1970-71 seasons.

“I take the good with the bad,” Swinney said. “I don’t like it, but that’s just my view. And I know something good will come out of it. I promise you, though, I’ve never worked harder. And I’m going to keep doing everything I can, and we’ll be back.

“We’ll win more championships. We’ll win more championships. Okay? I promise you. It might not happen this year, but we’ll win more championships. That’s all I can say. And I think we have a track record to back it up.”

Swinney, who has an overall record of 183-51, is in the middle of a 10-year, $115 million extension and would require a $60 million buyout if the program were to make a change. He understands the fans’ frustration and wants to remedy it.

“I don’t blame them (the fans). I’m disappointed too. We’re all disappointed. We’re incredibly frustrated,” Swinney said. “But that’s where we are, and I take full responsibility for that. But all I can do is keep working and see if we can find a way to win the next game.

“…We have to pick ourselves up and keep going. That’s what we’re going to do. There’s no giving up in this group. That’s one thing I’ll say about this team. It hurts, but there’s no giving up. We’re going to fight until the end. And then we’ll count them all out, and then we – you know, it’s a season. And right now, it’s not even close to the season we want.”

Clemson, which played SMU without first-team preseason All-America quarterback Cade Klubnik (ankle), was outscored 139-35 on the field by the Mustangs. Christopher Vizzina made his first start Saturday, but Swinney expects Klubnik to return after the bye week.

“It’s shocking and disappointing,” Swinney said. “We have to improve.

“…Me personally, I feel like I’m reliving 2010. That’s how I feel. We just can’t put it all together and get out of the way. But that’s football. That’s football. But we’ll keep going, we’ll bounce back, we’ll get back up.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.